


First Position

by violawrites



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Ballet, Other, Red Room (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 06:04:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14278464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violawrites/pseuds/violawrites
Summary: I am one of 28 young ballerinas with the Bolshoi. Training is hard, but the glory of the soviet culture, and the warmth of my parents… my… parents… makes up for….No, that’s not right.I am one of the 28 Black Widow agents with the Red Room. Training is hard, but the glory of the soviet supremacy, and the warmth of my parents…. all my parents…. makes up for… You’ll have to excuse me…





	First Position

“ _First position, again_!"  
  
I am one of twenty-eight young ballerinas with the Bolshoi. Every morning we practice for hours at the barre. We are torn apart just to be put back together. It is punishing, it is brutal, and we will have to do it all again tomorrow. Training is hard, but the glory of the soviet culture, and the warmth of my parents make up for it. Madame B. watches through the glass with the same expression she always has, glancing from girl to girl as she observes us. Sometimes she walks among us while we train and it makes it difficult to breathe and make sure that the heart isn’t beating too fast. We know she can hear it but we’ve all learned to control our pulse, to have mastery over our bodies, completely and totally. There is no excuse for anything less.  
  
Master Volkov is leading us in our training this morning. He is the only thing more merciless than Madame B. herself. He is our leader, not just in the dance, but also in all things. We know no other God. His voice rings out, echoes through the hall and wraps itself around everything it can reach like the handcuffs they put on us every night before we sleep.  
  
“ _Second Position!_ ”  
  
Our feet slide outward as one while arms raise and straighten, fingertips reaching for the walls. Four rows of seven move together in lines that are perfectly in sync, hearts and minds flowing as one. There are days they test our ability by having us compete with each other, girl against girl. Some of us will break, but Madame B. always says it’s only the breakable ones and tells me I’m made of marble. Weakness is not possible; imperfection is not something that we were ever told was an option. They strive to make us the same, make us part of a whole, and yet in this way they separate us from one another. Some of us are more prepared than others. We are reminded that there is a future outside of this room and that our survival in that future is dependent on how much we have learned here. We have watched girls break; with minds who were too weak to endure, and bones that were too fragile not to snap. Master Volkov tells us it is only the frail girls that do not see the end of their training here. We were always meant to bend, but not to break.  
  
“ _Third Position!_ ”  
  
In the afternoon we will do a different kind of exercise, but one that is no less painful. There will be targets set at the far end of the room and each of us will have to hit them one after the other. Madame B. and Master Volkov instruct us to go one at a time so that no hesitation or error escapes them. Master Volkov told us they targets are shaped like humans because there are no lies here, only the cold touch of reality with one gun in each hand so that we may change back and forth as gracefully as our feet shift from one position to another. This practice is just as important as our dance, we are told, just another part of our movement.  
  
“ _Fourth Position._ ”  
  
There will be more tests. More feats of physical and mental strength before we graduate, but not all of us will make it. When I came here there were many more girls than are left now. Girls who disappeared in the night and never told us why. We are all thankful to be here, serving our culture and performing our duty. The ceremony after our graduation is efficient, meant to ensure there will be no further distractions from our mission and there is no going back. Madame B. says it is necessary for us in order to take our place in the world, but we all know that we have no place in the world. We were made to be silent, slip into the shadows and vanish as quietly as we came. I ask her what will happen if I fail, but she tells me I never do.  
  
“ _Fifth Position._ ”  
  
I am one of the twenty-eight Black Widow agents with the Red Room.


End file.
